1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printing device having at least two working areas which are separated spatially from one another and each have separate feed devices for the original assigned to the respective working area, using at least one printing head and at least one further functional unit of the same kind or different.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing devices of this kind are preferably considered for use in counter workstations in which, for example, forms, savings books, checks, identification papers, labels or the like are printed and read and, in addition, receipts, cash slips etc. are issued for the customers and/or printed journals are kept. In view of the usual lack of space at the counter workstation, devices of this kind should only have very small external dimensions. On the other hand, simple handling and a high degree of accessibility are required during maintenance, for example when changing the ink ribbon, for the operation at the counter to proceed as rapidly and free of faults as possible.
In view of these requirements, concepts in which a separate printing head with separate drive and, if appropriate, also a reading head are used for each printing station do not come into practical consideration because of the increased outlay in terms of costs and the space requirement due to the plurality of units.
It is therefore already known (cf. DE A 3,039,124), to arrange the printing head and reading head next to one another on a common intermediate carrier and to provide a common drive for both units. This arrangement requires both a complicated ink ribbon guidance for the printing head, so that the reading window of the reading head arranged directly next to it is not covered and also an increased space requirement in terms of width since, in order to read and write the complete form width, the reading head must be moved beyond the form on the one side and on the other side the printing head must be moved beyond the form if a loss in form width is not to be accepted and the two margins are not to be dispensed with when reading and writing. Even here, the outlay is also still considerable because, as before, a separate printing head including drive and actuation must be provided for a separate printing station.
Therefore, another known device already provides a swivelable carrier element to which only a single printing head and a reading head arranged perpendicularly to the printing head are attached. The swivel axis of the carrier element drive extends in such a way that the printing head can be swiveled forwards and backwards perpendicularly to the direction of the lines between two printing stations. This swivelable arrangement also requires a large amount of space because in one swivel position the reading head protrudes to the front and only assumes a park position there, whilst in the other swivel position the printing head extends backwards into the device to a corresponding degree. A further amount of space in terms of width may also be required under certain circumstances if the printing head has to be positioned laterally outside the roller area of the feed device to swivel.